The present invention relates to a device for absorbing lateral forces during a side impact of a motor vehicle.
EP 0 943 530 B1 discloses a vehicle having a device for absorbing lateral forces during a side impact by way of a transverse bracing component. This component has a tubular design with two lateral exterior, upright reinforcement pipes and a tubular reinforcing element extending over the width of the vehicle body. The upright reinforcement pipes are connected to junction plates incorporated in the vehicle structure.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device in a motor vehicle for side impact protection, i.e., for the absorption of lateral forces, that ensures optimum absorption of these lateral forces and allows precise positioning during assembly, thereby permitting targeted introduction of force into the vehicle structure and achieving optimum occupant protection.
This object has been achieved according to the invention by providing that, for a side impact, i.e., when lateral forces impinge on a vehicle in the region of a B-pillar or a region of the vehicle body located behind a door opening, the vehicle is provided with additional reinforcement in this region so that the occupants are protected during a collision or the like, and this region of the vehicle body cannot be inwardly deformed to the extent that could injure the occupants. This is achieved by the supporting element being composed of a profile part that projects upward in a vertical plane from a transversely extending bearing element and that may be attached to the bearing element via associated fastening sections.
The profile part is also passed through and mounted in a bracket that is fixed to the vehicle body. A free-standing area of the profile part together with the bearing element is situated in the pillar space so as to protrude from the bracket. An end face region of the profile part is provided with a plate, referred to as an impact plate, that is connected to upright legs of the profile part. The impact plate may be rounded on the side edges and the top edge so that these are guided over the edges of the legs.
The present invention provides in particular that the profile part has a box-shaped configuration comprising two side flanks that are connected by a bar and separated at a distance opposite from one another, and the horizontally running fastening sections are respectively positioned on the side flanks and accommodate the bearing element therebetween. This structure of the profile part allows lateral impact forces to be optimally transmitted to the transversely extending bearing element, that may be designed as a pipe or as a plate girder having any geometric shape.
The profile part is fastened to the transversely extending bearing element by at least one relatively long fastening section to avoid being pulled off. The present invention in particular provides that the profile part on its side flanks has legs that extend down in a vertical plane and are connected to the plate which is directly associated with an outer side wall of the vehicle.
The profile part is attached by its fastening sections to a wall of the bearing part, and a lower boundary of the fastening sections is situated at least in the region between a lower boundary plane and an upper boundary plane of the bearing part lying thereabove. To keep the profile part from projecting underneath the bearing element, which could result in an adverse deformation effect on the transversely extending bearing element, the profile part is fastened at its horizontally running fastening sections to the end pipe section in at least one center pipe transverse plane or below same. The edge faces of the profile part lead out over the center pipe transverse plane and end in front of a lower pipe transverse plane that borders the pipe, i.e., the bearing element, from below. As a result, no region of the profile part extends underneath the bearing element, thus ensuring that only an upwardly extending lever arm results from the vertical profile part, and the bearing element is correspondingly deformed with absorption of energy, guaranteeing a survival space up to a certain magnitude of the lateral force.
The bearing element comprises a transversely extending pipe, and one end pipe section on each side of the vehicle is connected to the profile part, and a further adjacent, transversely extending center pipe section is connected to each end pipe section via a sliding sleeve. The cross section of the pipe for the bearing element may be polygonal, circular, ellipsoidal, or the like. The bearing element may also be integrated into the underbody of the vehicle as a beam, or may be set in place as a welded or riveted beam.
To enable the lateral forces to be optimally absorbed during the specified test for side impact, the present invention further provides that the profile part is held in position by the bracket on the vehicle structure is mounted above a vehicle sill and at a distance from an outer side wall of the vehicle structure, and the bracket is connected to a shaped sheet metal part that forms a sill and is also connected to a wall of the vehicle structure.
For adapting to a vehicle having a central tunnel, the present invention provides that the center pipe section has a trapezoidal region that overlaps a central tunnel of the vehicle structure. The adjacent, transversely extending pipe sections are situated lower and run coaxially with respect to the end pipe sections. When subjected to a lateral force that is to be absorbed, the transversely extending pipe sections or bearing element sections can be partially supported on the central tunnel via the trapezoidal region, thus preventing the transversely extending bearing element together with a profile part from breaking through to the other side of the vehicle.